Mark Dalton

The White House AI Framework: Writing Rules About Ourselves Amidst Global Competition

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Between 1935 and 1937, Congress passed three Neutrality Acts, with each iteration carrying more details. These contained arms embargoes, loan

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AI Grand Strategy Option 7: Networked Technological Leadership

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the seventh and final installment of the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series, which applies classical strategic frameworks

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AI Grand Strategy Option 6: Standards and Governance Leadership

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the seventh installment in the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series. The first piece examined why the "

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AI Grand Strategy Option 5: Innovation Ecosystem Dominance

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the sixth installment in the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series. The first piece examined why the "

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AI Grand Strategy Option 4: Technological Interdependence

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the fifth installment in the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series. The first piece examined why the "

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AI Grand Strategy Option 3: Competitive Pluralism

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the fourth installment in the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series. The first piece examined why the "

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AI Grand Strategy Option 2: Resilience Over Dominance

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This is the third installment in the Grand Strategy for AI Competition series. The first installment examined why the "

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AI Grand Strategy Option 1: Preserve Democratic Technological Autonomy

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. On Monday I promised to examine eight grand strategy alternatives for AI competition. That's a huge lift with

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AI Competition Needs Grand Strategy: Here's What That Means

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize to you, the reader. This is much longer than my

When Political Messaging Supplants Strategic Planning: What's Missing from the 2026 National Defense Strategy

The 2026 NDS claims to prioritize threats while committing to defend everywhere. 'Peace through strength' appears ten times. It answers nothing.

The Value of Necessity as Competitive Advantage: What the Marine Corps Teaches About Innovation Under Constraint

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This week was the Marine Corps birthday. I'm unapologetically biased because I spent five years on active duty

Getting What You Wished For: What Sun Tzu Would Say About China's Self-Imposed Chip Ban

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In my first newsletter, I argued that the U.S. approach to semiconductor export controls represent strategic error. While we

Technology as Salvation

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Last week I introduced what I call the "deus ex machina fallacy." This is the belief that the

The Deus Ex Machina Delusion

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Quick note: I'm on travel this week, so this newsletter is shorter than usual—consider it a trip

The Digital Mercantilism Trap: Why Our Technology Policies Are Fighting the Wrong War

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Thanks to Tom Choinski , next week I'm presenting at the Humanities and Technology Association's annual conference

Attacking Shadows While Missing the Target: Why the FCC's Lab Ban Won't Secure Certification Infrastructure

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In On War, Carl von Clausewitz developed the concept of "Schwerpunkt." In German, this refers to "the

Why Arms Control Approaches to AI Guarantee the Strategic Surprise We're Trying to Prevent

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In 1922, the world's great powers did something unprecedented: they agreed to stop building the weapons they saw

The Strategic Case for AI Winter: What Clausewitz and Moravec Tell Us About Preparing for Another Change of Season

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. As AI valuations soar and investment reaches fever pitch, concerns about an inevitable bubble burst grow louder. Market corrections feel

The Strategic Fallacy of NIST's Sixth Function: What Jomini Would Say About Adding "Governance"

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In 1838, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini wrote that "nothing is so important in war as an undivided command." The

The Anti-Innovation Trap: How Josh Hawley Would Hand China the Transportation Future

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In 1945, the British Royal Navy faced a stark strategic reality. Aircraft carriers had decisively proven their superiority over battleships

China's Mastery of the Indirect Approach: Lessons from Liddell Hart on Tech Competition

All views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. In 1929, British strategist Sir Basil Liddell Hart analyzed World War I's catastrophic frontal assaults. In doing so,

From Sea Power to Cyber Power: What CISA Could Learn From Mahan

All Views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. This week, I'm channeling James Holmes from the U.S. Naval War College. I will no doubt come

Carl von Clausewitz vs the Precautionary Principle: Why You Cannot Regulate Away Uncertainty

All Views in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of The R Street Institute, the US Navy, or any other organization I am affiliated with. Carl von Clausewitz understood something that today's AI policymakers seem to have forgotten: you cannot regulate away uncertainty.

Export Controls and The Art of War: What Sun Tzu Might Say About Semiconductor Policy

Welcome to The Strategic Technologist. I'm Mark, and I've spent the past 25 years in national defense on active duty, in the private sector, and as a government civilian. During that time, I transitioned from using technology systems to building them, then implementing the policies that